Some of Their Planes Are Missing
Regular Prisoners * Colonel Hogan - Bob Crane * Corporal Louis LeBeau - Robert Clary * Corporal Peter Newkirk - Richard Dawson * Sergeant James Kinchloe - Ivan Dixon * Sergeant Andrew Carter - Larry Hovis Camp Personnel * Kommandant Wilhelm Klink - Werner Klemperer * Sergeant Hans Schultz - John Banner Semi-Regulars * General Albert Burkhalter - Leon Askin * Sergeant Olsen - Stewart Moss Guest Stars * Oscar Schnitzer - Walter Janowitz * Maj. Richard Leman - John Doucette * Conrad - Rick Traeger Synopsis The Germans plan to use captured planes against the western allied air forces. Story Notes * This is the sixty-sixth produced episode of the series, but is the sixty-fourth episode to be shown on television and is the second episode shown for the Third Season. * Peter Newkirk does not appear in this episode. * The title might be a word play on the feature film One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, a well-known 1941 movie about a British bomber crew shot down over Germany and having to make their way to Holland in order to escape. It is often cited as one of the best movies made during World War II, nominated for two 1942 Academy Awards. Some have even claimed that it was one of the influences on the series itself. * A pack of Benson & Hedges cigarettes is superimposed over some of the closing credits. * Leman is introduced as a colonel, and addressed as such later, but in the end titles he is listed as a major -- a sly way of indicating his demotion. Timeline Notes and Speculations *A spring 1944 date is implied by the appearance of the special Luftwaffe unit. See below. *This appears to take place a few weeks after An Evening of Generals. During that episode, Klink mentions that he is going to be busy "for the next few weeks." This fits well with the preparations needed for housing the Luftwaffe pilots at Stalag 13. About a week before the pilots arrived, Schultz led a guard detail to fix up one of the empty barracks for the pilots. *The British airplanes flown by the Luftwaffe pilots appear to be Hawker Hurricanes (although Spitfires are seen in at least one stock film shot). These would have been most likely captured intact, on the ground, during the Fall of France in the spring of 1940. *SPECULATION: The special Luftwaffe unit that stays at Stalag 13 during this episode is most likely a detachment from the KG200 experimental aircraft squadron. It was formed in February 1944 to deal with all "special missions" for the Luftwaffe. Among these were the testing of new aircraft types and the flying of captured Allied aircraft in both evaluation and combat assignments. KG200 itself was based at Rechlin, although it is probably not the airfield shown in this episode (it was too far away). Series fans and history buffs will find some interesting reading regarding the operations of KG200 should they research its background. Quotes * Colonel Hogan: Carter, I don't know how I'd do without you - but sometime I'd like to try. ---- Schultz claims to know nothing about the Luftwaffe officers * Kinchole: Come on, Schultz! You can't be that stupid! * Schultz: Who says I can't! ---- Hogan has gained an invite to the Luftwaffe Officer's next nightly party. * Colonel Klink (About Hogan): Comes in for ping-pong balls, and gets himself invited to a party! Bloopers * One of the RAF planes that the Heroes blow up is clearly marked with serial P5744, which was actually assigned to a DH82B Queen Bee aerial target aircraft.Robertson, Bruce. British Military Aircraft Serials 1912-1966. Ian Allen Ltd. 1967 Page 144 External links * Some of Their Planes Are Missing at TV.com * Some of Their Planes Are Missing at Ein Käfig voller Helden * Some of Their Planes Are Missing at the Internet Movie Database * Some of Their Planes Are Missing episode capsule at Webstalag 13 * Hogan's Heroes Fanclub * The Hofbrau Sources Television stories Category:Season Three